Ares I test rocket takes off

OCT 28, 2009

Physics Today

Various : The launch of NASA’s first new rocket in 25 years earlier today has given NASA a welcome boost while the agency grapples with a revised strategy for returning to the Moon and onto Mars under tighter budget conditions.

Above is the Ares I-X test rocket taking off from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 11:30 am. EDT. Credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

The Ares I-X test flight saw the first stage solid rocket boosters taking the vehicle to an altitude of 40km. The booster stage then parachuted down into the Atlantic for recovery, while the dummy second stage crashes into the ocean."It is a chance for the agency to remind itself what it takes to build a vehicle,” said Robert Less, Ares I-X mission manager to the BBC .The first stage is a highly modified version of a space shuttle rocket booster.

The Ares I-X mission profile, Image credit: NASA.

The recent Augustine Panel that looked at manned spaceflight even questioned whether Ares I is the right vehicle for the job . NASA says Ares I will be ready in 2015, others told the panel it will be longer.The Ares I-X was rolled to the launch pad early last week. Space.com’s Jeremy Hsu goes behind the scenes of Ares I-X booster and visits the group that built it.

It represents the culmination of years of work by the rocket-minded ATK Space Systems in Utah and almost 1,000 other NASA workers and private contractors across 17 states.To ensure that they see the fruits of their labor, technicians have installed more than 700 sensors on the $445 million Ares I-X test vehicle .

It may be the only visible success of the program says New York Times reporter Kenneth Chang .

“Critics of the Ares I, which is part of NASA’s Constellation program intended to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, have described it as too expensive, underpowered and technically flawed.”

Test flightThe test flight objectives include:

Demonstrating control of a dynamically similar vehicle using control algorithms similar to those used for Ares I.
Performing an in-flight separation/staging event between an Ares I-similar First Stage and a representative Upper Stage.
Demonstrating assembly and recovery of an Ares I-like First Stage at Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Demonstrating First Stage separation sequencing, and measuring First Stage atmospheric entry dynamics, and parachute performance.
Characterizing the magnitude of integrated vehicle roll torque throughout First Stage flight.
The flight also has several secondary objectives, including:
Quantifying the effectiveness of the first stage booster deceleration motors.
Characterizing induced environments and loads on the vehicle during ascent.
Demonstrating a procedure for determining the vehicle’s position to orient the flight control system.
Characterize induced loads on the Flight Test Vehicle while on the launch pad.
Assess potential Ares I access locations in the VAB and on the Pad.
Assess First Stage electrical umbilical performance.